OLD AND NEW PAPUA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 5

OLD AND NEW PAPUA

A CANNIBAL FEAST

THE DIFFERENCE TODAY

A grisly, yet fascinating, story, related by Mrs. Margaret Light, one of the Papuan missionaries, to the Australian Board of Missions, illustrates strikingly. the change tn;t has come over a people who, but a few short years ago, knew only the savagery of Stone Age customs, and who, with sympathetic gowrnmental and mission guidance, hatte shown remarkable adaptability in^absorbing civilising influences, says a writer in the "Sydney Morning Herald." The story relates to a pool which, as a place of baptism, is now graced and adorned by'the name of Jordan,, tmt which, only thirty years ago, was the scene of all the hideous orgies associated with cannibalism; and. also to a circle of stones, with an equally unpleasant record, in one of the Papuan villages. Back in those days—a mere yesterday in the surge of time—a New Guinea tribe gratified its hunger, or perhaps lus', for meat, by making a raid on another tribe, and by carrying off the, dead for a gastronomic orgy, amid weird and fearsome tribal ceremony. It must-have been lust, rather than hunger, that really prompted the raid, for it was preceded, at the circle of stones, for example, by a feast in which sorcery and magic cast their evil influence. A MAGIC POTION. In the circle of stones—it still exists —is a small hollow stone, shaped like a cup, in the centre. . In' this receptacle, known as. "Wakeke's Cup," was poured a magic and apparently stimulating potion, with a mixture of coconut as one of its constituent elements. It was with this potion that the warriors were fed before the tribal .raid. The aim was to make them strong, like their ancestor, Wakeke. One of the .Papuans was asked not long ago to point out to Mrs. Light and a party the location of the'circle of stones and cup. After walking aimlessly about for some time, he stood still, and then looked carefully round! The party waited his next move with some curiosity. He then nodded towards some stones, and resumed his walk. It appeared to the party that he did not want anyone1 else to know what he was doing. He had directed them to the rough circle of stones,, with a smallish, hollow stone, shaped like^ a cup, standing upright in the centre. The Papuan said nothing about the circle of stones or its history. He had pointed it out to the;party, and was content to leave it at that. Mrs-Light relates that, when a fight, or raid, was over, the bodies of .those slain were brought from the scene of the slaughter. Each. body, tied to a long-pole, was hoisted on the shoulders of two strong men, "just as their pigs are carried today." Then came a triumphal procession. . Shouting defiance to their enemies, and with pagan cries in praise of themselves, the men moved in procession to the village, gaily caparisoned with plumed headdresses, with tails of feathers, aflame, with: colour, and with branches of trees swaying in the wind.

A PRIMITIVE ROASTING. This was merely a curtain-raiser to the grisly scenes of revelry that followed. . The village being reached, each body was placed in a;pool to soak,, while stones were heated for roasting purposes. When the stones were deemed sufficiently hot, the body was cut into pieces each of which was %vrapped m paw-paw leaves, and -then placed among the hot stones. Then came the horrible feast. Mrs Light contrasts that scene— the savages, their faces' hideous with war paint, and their eye afire—with the position today in Papua. \ "Things," she observes, "are very different here today. The people arl: so quiet and friendly. The pool, which, only thirty years ago, marked such horrible scenes, is now a place for bap-

tism. It is hard to believe that these people were ever savages, until one sees them excited over a hunt, or a football match, or taking part in one of their old tribal dances."

The story recalls the- difficulties which are sometimes met with in helping the, natives of Papua, because of their primitive, conceptions. Many" years ago, an epidemic of smallpox threatened loss of native life in portion of Papua. The natives refused to submit to vaccination. They declined to have their arms made sore merely to satisfy some curious whim of the white man. A scheme was therefore evolved under which the native police were instructed to notify all the natives in the place affected by the smallpox that a great and powerful sorcerer had arisen, and was bent on destroying them. The Government alone, they were advised, had power over his evil influence. Thus, if the natives were to escape his clutches, it would be necessary for them to have the "Government mark" upon their arms, for, at the mere sight of it, the sorcerer would flee.

The official ruse was a complete success, i ' ■ The natives from far and wide eagerly sought the Government mark.